Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) agreed to pay $35,000 to settle Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charges on Friday, resolving allegations tied to bets he placed on Kalshi over his State of the Union attendance.
Santos placed a wager on whether he would attend President Donald Trump‘s February address and shared updates about his plans on social media. After a canceled flight prevented him from attending, he changed his position on the bet and earned more than $17,500.
Forfeiture and Trading Ban Follow Kalshi Referral
Under the settlement, Santos will forfeit his winnings, pay a matching $17,500 fine, and accept a three-year trading ban.
Kalshi’s head of enforcement, Robert DeNault, said the company flagged the trades to regulators. “Kalshi will also pursue its own enforcement action for violating exchange rules, and if monetary penalties are recovered, we’ll work to reimburse affected traders,” he said in a statement.
Benzinga’s Take: The case highlights growing regulatory attention on prediction markets as trading volume expands among retail investors.
Santos was expelled from Congress in 2023 and convicted of wire fraud and identity theft. President Trump commuted his seven-year prison sentence in October 2025, citing what he called mistreatment during Santos’s confinement, and ordered his immediate release.
Kalshi’s Wider 2026 Regulatory Fights
The Santos case is one of several flashpoints for Kalshi this year. New York sued the platform in July, seeking a shutdown and damages one attorney pegged near $36 billion. A Nevada judge blocked its sports and election contracts in April as illegal gambling, while Kalshi and the CFTC sued Minnesota over a similar criminalization law.
Separately, Kalshi banned a American YouTuber MrBeast video editor for insider trading in February.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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